solved [SOLVED] Find and Replace the Clipboard, then Paste

[Cliff]

I want to copy something like

wp-content/plugins/event-tickets/tests/restv1/TicketNotAccessibleCest.php

and convert it to

codecept run tests/restv1/TicketNotAccessibleCest.php

and paste it

 

the "event-tickets" part is variable, which is why I used regex to match \w

 

When I run with debugging on, it's like the Clipboard (what I think should be {query}) is blank. Screenshot: https://cl.ly/120d35b1fd91

 

Is that a bug or an error in my workflow?

 

Workflow is here: https://cl.ly/005392a2a9cd

 

Thanks for helping!

[vitor]

12 hours ago, Cliff said:

When I run with debugging on, it's like the Clipboard (what I think should be {query}) is blank.

 

That’s because you’re not telling the Hotkey to use the clipboard.

 

Check your connections. You have a connection that goes from the Hotkey to the Copy to Clipboard.

- in event-tickets is not a word character. A more robust option is ^wp-content/plugins/[^/]*/.

[Cliff]

OMG, the simplest things... tyvm!

 

Here's some regex testing that matches what I want: https://regex101.com/r/UeGzX3/1

However, it requires escaping forward slashes yet http://userguide.icu-project.org/strings/regexp seems to not require doing so (so I didn't in my workflow)

 

Workflow that actually works now except for the regex matching - and interestingly not showing up in debugger: https://cl.ly/5acd6e68fdb1

[deanishe]

2 hours ago, Cliff said:

However, it requires escaping forward slashes

 

Yeah. Not all regex engines are the same. You have to check the precise syntax for the one you're using. PCRE (Perl-compatible regular expressions) require you to escape forward slashes because they're the syntax used to indicate that something is a regular expression: "this is a string" /this is a regular expression/

 

2 hours ago, Cliff said:

Workflow that actually works now

 

It doesn't. Your Replace isn't actually connected. You're just passing the clipboard contents straight through:

 

 

Your regex is also wrong: (\w|\-)+ means "word character OR -". Putting the plus outside the brackets also means the group only contains one character. Use the regex @vitor gave you: [^/]+, which means "as many characters as possible that aren't slashes", in a match group (because you want to extract it): ([^/]+)

 

Finally, it's a Replace utility, but you have the "with" field empty, meaning you're deleting the match, not extracting it. You need to put $1 in the "with" box ($1 means the first match group). This appears to be a working configuration:

 

 

Regular expressions are tricky. Whenever you reach for them, bear in mind the immortal words of Jamie Zawinski:

 

Quote

 Some people, when confronted with a problem, think "I know, I'll use regular expressions." Now they have two problems.

Edited July 31, 2019 by deanishe

[Cliff]

I had a different filter in the middle and I guess deleting it made it connect further down the road - or, more likely, I didn't initially connect it properly anyway. ugh - not on my game with this one

 

My regex and vitor's regex both worked, but I did appreciate your explanation of the rule - it does sound better - although the plus is better than asterisk, as demonstrated here (not matching double slash): https://regex101.com/r/wvT3FC/1

 

I didn't add the $1 as a replacement because I do want it removed

 

Thanks for the help and the tips. Really appreciate it!

[Cliff]

Published to https://github.com/cliffordp/alfred-app-workflows#development if it helps anyone else in the future

 

Again, thanks to you people for helping!

[deanishe]

44 minutes ago, Cliff said:

I didn't add the $1 as a replacement because I do want it removed

 

Yes, right. Sorry. I got the bits you wanted to keep mixed up in my head at some point, and wrote it to keep the bit you actually wanted to throw away…